Housing start data revealed

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released its latest housing start data Monday.

The trend measure for housing starts in Canada was 195,064 units in April, down slightly from March’s mark of 196,103.

“While the trend for Canada remained stable in April, there were off-setting differences at the local level, notably in Vancouver and Montréal,” Bob Dugan, CMHC Chief Economist, said in a release. “Condo construction is slowing down in Montreal as builders are managing inventories by channelling demand to units that have been completed but remain unsold.”

The measure is a six-month fluctuating average of seasonally adjusted annual rates of starts, according to the Crown Corporation.

“The standalone monthly SAAR for all areas in Canada was 191,512 units in April, down from 202,375 units in March. The SAAR of urban starts decreased by 4.6 per cent in April to 174,810 units,” CMHC said. “Multiple urban starts decreased by 4.0 per cent to 117,851 units in April and the single-detached urban starts decreased by 5.8 per cent to 56,959 units.”